Be Brave
by Dusty Bookshelf
Summary: Humanity is lost. Those who remain are being captured by the apes and relocated safely away from the apes home. Among the last group to be captured in a young girl who reeks of fear. Caesar works quickly to relocate them, worried for the sanity of the human female, yet a disaster strikes. The human has to remain in the ape's camp and slowly, a forbidden bond in formed. Blue Eyes/OC
1. Chapter 1

The feeling of terror was overwhelming. It pounded in my chest and flowed quickly through my veins. My breathing was labored and shaky as I desperately tried to calm myself or at least hold my breath. The screams of fear were louder than the angry bellows of the apes. Gunshots exploded to my left and I clung tighter to myself, huddled under the broken office desk in the shadowy room I had run to. Tears cascaded from my tightly shut eyes and down my cheeks. I rocked back and forth. I was scared. I was terrified. I was going to die.

This was the end of human history. We were first struck with the simian flu. I should have died then. Our vacation in San Francisco had turned into a nightmare as the ALZ-113 virus took my father and sister, leaving my mother and I by ourselves in a city we didn't belong in. We had just managed to find a few other survivors and clung to them until we found the human stronghold. We were accepted graciously and for a little while I felt okay. I made a few friends and we were safe.

Then the power shortage happened. I felt nothing but dread upon hearing the news that a team was going to be sent to fix the dam in hopes of restoring power. We all knew of the stories of those dreadful apes that had escaped to that forest. While we did not know if they were still there, we knew the dangers of wild animals. Since I was still young, a teenager, I wasn't allowed outside of the colony for extended periods of time. Not that I would want to go outside of the cologny. I was safe and at home in the tower. The team being sent to fix the dam threatened the security there if something went wrong and they didn't fix it.

Low and behold, they found the apes. It was one of the few times I had been outside the tower when they first came through. I had hid in an abandoned car as they passed. It was horrifying to see them all. We never stood a chance against them. It wasn't too long before they returned with guns and war. The day a chimpanzee crashed through the window of a room where a few older survivors and I had been hiding was the first day I had pissed myself in years.

It had screamed at us with all the rage and fury it had and swung a gun wildly, shooting a seventy-year-old man who had tried to move in between the ape and the rest of us. I had known him. His name was Charles; he used to be a journalist. All the memories of the few conversations I had with him flew past me as I was splattered with his blood. The two others and I had been forced out of the room and into the mass of terrified humans that was being pushed and herded into barred prisons while an angry ape yelled above us.

The apes had started the war. They had attacked us. It was all their fault. We had been scattered into small groups, lost and terrified. My safe and secure tower had been taken and destroyed. It took me a week to located my mother, she was injured and weak. In that week military hit the city. They tore through the crumbling wasteland for a month before they began to run out of supplies. They took in survivors, but that was worse that rummaging in the streets. Rumors of labor camps quickly spread. We were victims of apes and humans alike. No where was safe. I should have died then.

Now, our luck had run out. Our group of ten had taken shelter in an abandoned office building, and someone had lit a fire. The apes were quick to take action, as we were too close to the bridge. They attacked in the middle of the night. We scattered in half-asleep terror. I was separated from everyone else and once again, alone.

The soft click of the door made me flinch and suck in a breath. This was it, I was going to die. A low hoot came from behind me, on the other side of the desk as the ape stepped into the room. I heard the soft footfalls on the carpet, and the clink of metal on metal. I bit my lip hard as the tears fell faster; it had a gun. Another low hoot sounded and I shook with fear. They were monsters. They destroyed my home. They were why the military was here. They were to blame. They were going to kill me.

Another soft call came for just above me. The broken desk wobbled and dust was shaken and filled my nostrils. Not a second later I sneezed. My eyes snapped open, stretching wide in terror. Slowly, a face peeked over the edge of the desk. More tears rushed down my cheeks and I completely stopped breathing. Bright, blue eyes stared me down for a few seconds, only to disappear in an instant. A few heartbeats later a chimpanzee was crouched in front of me, using those same soft sounds. It seemed like it was trying to sooth me.

It reached towards me and I whimpered, flinching away. The large hand retreated and my eyes followed it, only to stop and and lock on the gun held in it's other hand. Those large blue eyes caught the movement and it cautiously set the gun down and held it's hands up to show me that it was completely unarmed now. I scooted back to the corner of the desk, choking on air and tears. Why would this beast play with me like this? Why didn't it just kill me.

"Not...not going to hurt."

I covered my ears and sobbed. The voice was hoarse, but soft and comforting. It was lying. Apes were not kind to humans. I shook my head and wailed, "Please just kill me. Please, please kill me."

I wailed again, louder this time as a rough hand of the ape gripped my forearm. I barely heard the words of false comfort spilling from the ape's disgusting mouth. I sobbed harshly and weakly tried to pull myself from it's grasp. I was going to die. Why did this thing drag it out?

It grunted and stood, pulling me to my feet. Hurriedly, it ushered me out of the dark room and down a flight of stairs to a small group of five other humans. My mother was among them and she screamed upon seeing me. The dark brown haired woman rushed towards me, only to be shoved back by a large ape that hissed menacingly at her. I wailed loudly and lurched towards my mother with my free arm reaching out towards her. The blue eyed ape that held me was tugged at my sudden movement and hissed in surprise, probably assuming I was trying run. I cringed, but I was too close to a familiar safety to care.

"Amelia!" my mother cried, trying to get past the ape blocking her. I tugged against my captor again. Thankfully he complied by letting me stumble my way into my mother's arms. I cried and clung to her. She stroked my hair and shushed me, "It's okay. It's okay, we're okay. Don't cry baby."

My tears finally stopped, but I still shakily clung to her. I was more aware of what was going on now. Those who fought back were dead on the ground and the apes were gathering those who tried to flee. They were careful not to hurt us, but they were not about to let us escape. We were prisoners once more. As long as we stayed quiet and kept in our little group, we were not harmed.

Roughly an hour later the group had totaled to seven humans and fifteen apes and we were being led away from the city and into unknown ape territory.


	2. Chapter 2

You'll have to excuse me and the fact that I am unbelievable slow on this story. I honestly hate angst, but love writing it, so I'm very conflicted on how I want this to go. Hopefully I will manage to do some awesome character and story development so it turns out better. Anyways, here's chapter two finally! Read and review please!

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The trees rose up around us, tall imposing giants among the humid air. Muir Woods was the name of this area a few years ago. Now it's know as a place humans were forbidden to go. Everyone told stories of man-eating monsters that prowled through these trees, and I had believe every one of them when I was a child. Now, those same stories popped in my head, and with the apes watching our little group with keen eyes, I felt helpless and utterly exposed. We walked single file on a narrow pathway. It was worn, speaking of just how many travel through here, but it only allowed one person at a time and the apes opted to travel through the thick foliage next to us. If someone was to even raise their head and look in a direction other than in front of them, an ape would screech wildly at them. Even though I didn't want to accept it as something familiar, I recognized it was them being just as paranoid as humans would be if we had captured a group of apes.

My hand gripped the back of my mother's shirt, comforted by the cotton texture and the body that wore it. She walked at the head of our line, with her head held high even though her bad leg must have been hurting as she was limping slightly. This was how my mother had always been. She was strong and she made everyone know it, even the apes. She stood tall with her wild curly brown hair sticking out everywhere, her clothes were dirty and ragged, but she met every glance from the apes with a stern stare that would make them look away. The mud that clung to her ankles and the greenery that slapped at her as she passed didn't seem to faze her at all.

The only ones that matched her stares were the two apes that rode on horseback in front of us. The blue eyed ape that captured me and a nearly hairless ape that looked past his prime led the group. They made gestures and sounds at each that almost looked like a conversation. My eyes remained on them, curious as to what they were doing. A few hand movements caught my eye. I was startled to realize they were using sign language. Maybe a variant of it, probably developed to suit apes more. It was odd. Watching them use such intelligence made me uneasy.

Simultaneously they both looked over their shoulders. At first I was scared they knew I was watching them. Yet, after a moment, I realized they were eyeballing my mother. I could just imagine her glaring back at them with a nasty look on her face. I tensed when their expressions changed to more hostile ones. They turned to one another and rapidly signed to one another, then the nearly hairless ape pointed down the path and shrieked, glancing back at my mother. My hand gripped her shirt tighter, worried about what was going on.

The two apes seemed to argue as we continued to walk. The odd sound of a distant rumbling hit my ears, though the morning sky was a clear, pretty blue when I glanced up between the treetops. If it wasn't thunder then what could it be? The sound became louder as we walked, and oddly, the trees here were less dense, as though a few had been cleared. Soon, we broke from the trees and into a small cleared space. I gasped at the sight of a large waterfall, the source of the thundering roar that was by now deafening. A few of the others behind me were just amazed as me and huddled closer together. The few locals that had lived in this area before the flu broke out seemed to be more afraid than awed by the sight.

The apes let us pause for only a few minutes before pushing us forward again. A few of them puffing out their chests as though they were proud of something. The unease in my chest grew seeing that they recognized our amazement. My gaze went past the waterfall, to where our path seemed to lead, and my eyes widened. A large structure stood at the edge of a cliff. I could barely make out tiny shapes of what I knew had to be apes crawling all over it. I felt the blood drain from my face. They were taking us to their camp.

What would they do to us there? Why were they dragging us there? My knees felt weak, but I was quickly walking along after my mother. Whom the two apes on horseback still seemed to be arguing about. We passed the fall, getting ever closer to the dreaded apes' camp. I felt my heartbeat quicken the closer we got and my breathing became shallow. This was a living nightmare and I could feel the panic rising within my chest rapidly. I couldn't afford to have an attack here, who knew what the apes would do to me.

A screech and startled whinny of a horse snapped my attention back to the apes on horseback to see the ape with thin hair galloping to the looming structure. The other one huffed and clenched the reins tightly. The anxiety ball in the pit of my stomach became tightly knotted at the situation. I felt my limbs become shaky as the blue eyed ape made a noise and a few hand gestures. The pace was increased and we were hustled towards the apes camp.

When we got near, two large gorillas stepped forward. They grunted and bowed up as we passed. I quickly pressed my face in my mother's back to keep from seeing them up close, but I still felt their hot breath on the back of my neck. I was barely breathing now, struggling to keep from hyperventilating. The ground here was muddy, and it had an unpleasant odor. Apes shrieked and screamed from their perches around us. When I dared to peek from behind my mother's shoulder I was appalled at the scene before me. Small clusters of humans were trapped in what appeared to be huts with crossing wooden planks covering the opened front, a gorilla and a few apes stood outside each of them.

Our group was brought to a halt in the middle of the clearing and the large blue eyed ape slid off his horse, and bounded up a ramp that twisted into a large tree. Not even seconds later a chorus of hoots and shrieks announced the arrival of a band of apes. They were smaller than the hunters that captured us, but big enough to cause trouble. I could almost describe them as teenagers. I whimpered and pressed closer to my mother. The band of trouble-makers began harassing a man at the end of the line. I watched from the corner of my eye in fear. They tugged on his clothes and teasingly pushed him, puffing up their chests and getting in his face. The man, of course, backed up and ducked his head from fear. Apes were monsters, how could he not?

One of the larger apes, another one that looked like a nearly hairless chimp, gripped the back of the man's neck and shoved him to the ground. His buddies got louder in their shrieking, their mouths agape in laughter. I felt my mother stiffen beside me and before I could react she was moving. I stumbled forward, still having a tight grip on her. Her face was screwed up in rage and her mouth flew open.

"Leave him be!"

My mother faltered and stopped before reaching the group of apes and the man. I caught the back of my heel with my foot and fell flat in the mud. The apes halted their actions and turned to face the speaker. A large, powerful looking chimpanzee gazed down at the small band with disapproving eyes. The chimp with the scars on his chest stood beside him, his eyes on my fallen form with a look I could only describe as pity.

"Human's are not, to be mistreated!" he thundered. Then he turned his hard glare on my mother. "You are, in charge?"

"Well, I don't see anyone else stepping up front to deal with you beasts," my mother hissed, turning to fully face the chimp. "What do you want with us anyways? We didn't do diddly squat to you monkeys and you up and attacked us!"

I winced and clambered up from the ground, not touching my mother again, as mud clung to my clothes and skin. The apes eyes darted from my mother to me briefly. He was angry. I could see the savage rage in his movements and posture. He tilted his head towards the younger chimp at his side and made a few gestures before standing taller and glaring down my mother. The blue-eyed chimp nodded and quietly slinking off to the side.

"You humans, have caused apes much trouble. If you get too close to ape's land, then you must be moved," he growled out. "My name, is Caesar. I must do what is good for apes. Moving humans far away from our home, is only option to keep future generations, safe."

I gaped up at the beast in shock. It was astounding to hear it speak, much less utter whole sentences, even if it was in halting speech. It was even more bizarre to realize it was speaking about the future of the apes. The intelligence scared me. I was taught that they were nothing more than savage animals. If they could reason, if they could figure things out...no wonder us remaining humans were being herded and slaughtered.

"What do you mean by that?" my mother shouted. The apes surrounding us hooted and grunted in aggravation. The line of humans shifted in uneasiness, glancing between my mother and Caesar.

"Humans are kept here, in safety. Then moved to different place, and told to keep walking. Never to come back."

The large chimp stared my mother in the eyes before making a hand movement. Almost instantly the apes around us went into action. Each one took a hold on a human, shoving them towards a holding pen, or shoving them to the ground if they tried to put up a fight. My mother ducked out of the grasp of gorilla to her left. She was on me in a moment, pushing me fowards, out of the way of the apes. I felt my chest heave in a sob of fear, fresh tears falling down my cheeks. The screams of humans and apes blended together and hurt my ears.

"Move it Amelia! We don't have time for your crying!" my mother urged, pushing me harder. I stumbled forward, nearly losing my footing in the slippery mud again. I glanced back with wide, panic-filled eyes, just in time to see the old nearly hairless ape that had been on the other horse tackled my mother to the ground. "Run Amelia! Don't let the catch you again!"

I reacted in a split second. At her words, a triggered pulled in my brain and I bolted forward. Escape was a lesson my mother had drilled into my brain since I was little. I dodged the grabbing hands and heavy bodies, letting my flight instinct take over. Escape was what I needed. I caught glimpses of humans struggling against the apes, but I couldn't care enough to help them. I needed freedom.

Only too soon a large, rough hand closed around my arm. I was yanked to a stop, my feet slipping out from under me and I fell against a solid form. My eyes darted up and my breath stopped. Clear blue eyes stared back, just as startled.


End file.
